KABUL: President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday said the increase in exports of Afghan products was a victory for traders and the country.
The president was informed about the increase in exports of dry and fresh fruits from Afghanistan and their quality by exporters who called on him at the Presidential Palace, a statement from the president’s office said.
Due to increased demand for Afghan dry fruits, the prices of raisin had increased by 30 percent and the quality of Afghan fruits had improved, they told the president.
The exporters urged the government to build cold storage facilities, a common centre for processing fruits and others and end to corruption in the exports sector.
For his part, President Ghani thanked the exporters for focusing on quality of Afghan products, saying the increased exports was a victory for national traders and Afghanistan.
“We will try to connect Afghanistan with Turkmenistan through railways which would help Afghan traders easily transport their goods,” Ghani said, adding the government would also establish more storage facilities for agricultural products.
Azerbaijan was also interested in cooperation and partnership in transferring and exporting the Afghan products, he said.
The Afghan government was committed to improving local products and had increased by 15 percent the use of Afghan goods fulfilling the public sector needs.
Ghani said the National Procurement Commission (NPC) had rejected contracts ignoring Afghan products.
